Content about co-operative

September 24, 2012

China signs economic deals with Afghanistan

China and Afghanistan have signed a range of economic agreements during a visit to Kabul by one of China’s most senior officials Zhou Yongkang.

The announcement comes as China looks to increase its investments in Afghanistan’s resources sector ahead of the withdrawal of US-led military forces from the country in 2014. In June, the two countries decided to upgrade their ties to the level of a strategic and co-operative partnership.

Increasingly, Afghanistan’s neighbours have been looking to expand their influence in the country.

June 12, 2012

Irish Dairy Board to sell Belgian unit

The Irish Dairy Board (IDB) has entered into an agreement to sell its Belgian continental cheese packing operation, IDB Belgium, to Netherlands-based Royal FrieslandCampina.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed by 31 July 2012.

Proceeds from the transaction will be invested in furthering the IDB’s strategic growth plans and in international acquisition prospects.

May 23, 2012

Dairy co-operative announces two major mergers

European dairy co-operative Arla Foods has announced plans for two major mergers—with German dairy Milch-Union Hocheifel and the UK’s Milk Link.

Milch-Union Hocheifel (MUH) is Germany’s eighth largest dairy with owners in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. Milk Link is the UK’s fourth largest dairy.

If the mergers are finalised and approved, Arla will be represented by owners in its four largest markets: the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, as well as Belgium and Luxembourg.

March 21, 2012

Inmet Mining: Çayeli Bakir

Turkish mine Çayeli Bakir is the only mine in the north-eastern province of Rize. Managing director Iain Anderson talks about the mine’s recent multi-million dollar capital investment programme and its close relationship with the local community.

Turkish mine Çayeli Bakir is the only mine in the north-eastern province of Rize. Jane McCallion talks to managing director Iain Anderson about the mine’s recent multi-million dollar capital investment programme and its close relationship with the local community.

Çayeli Bakir is an underground copper and zinc mine located in the north-east of Turkey, close to the Black Sea coast. The facility, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada’s Inmet Mining, became operational in 1994 and is expected to run until at least 2017.

November 9, 2011

Fortune Minerals and Tlicho Government sign relationship agreement

Fortune Minerals Limited and the Tlicho Government have signed a co-operative relationship agreement for the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

August 19, 2011

Capricorn

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 to be the International Year of Co-operatives (IYC) and Capricorn Society Ltd is embracing the opportunity.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 to be the International Year of Co-operatives (IYC) and Trent Bartlett, for the last 10 years CEO of Capricorn Society Ltd and a founder of Social Business Australia,has taken on the job of chairing the IYC 2012’s Australian Secretariat. We talk to him about Capricorn, IYC, and his vision for the co-operative movement.

January 31, 2011

Sustainability: fair trade

Nick Jones, managing director of Nexus Collections, discusses the importance of fair trade and suggests what you should look for in a fair trade supplier.

Nick Jones, managing director of Nexus Collections, discusses the importance of fair trade and suggests what you should look for in a fair trade supplier.

June 1, 2010

Bisha Mining

Eritrea’s economic prospects are looking up with the approaching opening of Bisha Mining’s operation. General manager Stan Rogers gives Ruari McCallion the lowdown.

Eritrea’s economic prospects are looking up with the approaching opening of Bisha Mining’s operation. General manager Stan Rogers gives Ruari McCallion the lowdown.

December 1, 2009

Vrystaat Koöperasie Beperk

Growing from the ground
Vrystaat Koöperasie Beperk (VKB) is one of the few remaining agricultural enterprises to adopt a co-operative business model. Managing director Koos van Rensburg talked to Jayne Flannery about the opportunities this affords.
South Africa’s agricultural co-operative movement was born in the early 1900s to provide commercial farmers with collective buying, marketing and organisational power. By the early 1990s the movement was a dominant force not just in the agricultural marketing system, but also more widely in the rural economy. Deregulation and the promotion of small scale privately-owned farming enterprises following the collapse of the Apartheid regime changed the face of South African agriculture for ever. Hundreds of co-operatives opted to convert to private companies, leaving behind only a handful of the most stalwart.

November 1, 2009

Eskort Limited

A feast of innovation

The challenge of balancing supply and demand has perhaps been never more acutely felt than over the last couple of years. Within the food sector the pressure is intensified in the battle to fill limited supermarket shelf space with premier products, as Andrew Pelis finds out.

The Eskort name has been synonymous with quality meat products in South Africa for 92 years. In 1917 a group of nine people gathered in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, to discuss the establishment of a bacon curing factory in the area. By August of that year the Farmer's Co-operative Bacon Factory Limited was founded and building commenced on the banks of the Bushman's River, with the factory officially being opened on 6 June 1918 by General Louis Botha. The company remained a co-operative until 1998; today, Eskort is owned by 20 shareholders.

September 30, 2009

Sundays River Citrus Company

Exacting standards

Operating an agricultural firm in an emerging economy, to meet the expectations of customers in developed economies, can be a tough juggling act—but one at which Sundays River Citrus Company is excelling, as Andrew Pelis finds out.

Ken Nieuwenhuizen, the recently-arrived managing director of Sundays River Citrus Company (SRCC), had taken early retirement last year, after spending many years working around the globe with Coca-Cola. However, just over six months ago, the lure of joining SRCC, based in South Africa’s Eastern Cape—the very region he hails from—proved irresistible.